gaff

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

n. A large iron hook attached to a pole or handle and used to land large fish.

n. Nautical A spar attached to the mast and used to extend the upper edge of a fore-and-aft sail.

n. A sharp metal spur or spike fastened to the leg of a gamecock.

n. A climbing hook used by telephone and electric line workers.

n. Slang A trick or gimmick, especially one used in a swindle or to rig a game.

n. Slang Harshness of treatment; abuse.

transitive v. To hook or land (a fish) using a gaff.

transitive v. To equip (a gamecock) with a gaff.

transitive v. Slang To take in or defraud; swindle.

transitive v. Slang To rig or fix in order to cheat: knew that the carnival games had been gaffed.

n. Chiefly British A public place of entertainment, especially a cheap or disreputable music hall or theater.

n. Slang Chiefly British A house, building, or apartment, especially where one resides.

n. Variant of gaffe.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

n. A tool consisting of a large metal hook with a handle or pole, especially the one used to pull large fish aboard a boat.

n. A minor error or faux pas.

n. A trick or con.

n. A place of residence.

n. The upper spar used to control a gaff-rigged sail.

n. A garment worn to hide the genitals by male transvestites.

v. To use a gaff, especially to land a fish.

v. To cheat or hoax

n. rough or harsh treatment; criticism

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

n. A barbed spear or a hook with a handle, used by fishermen in securing heavy fish.

n. The spar upon which the upper edge of a fore-and-aft sail is extended.

n. Same as Gaffle, 1.

transitive v. To strike with a gaff or barbed spear; to secure by means of a gaff.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

To hook with a gaff; land by means of a gaff: as, to gaff a fish.

To use the gaff: as, to gaff for an angler.

n. A sharp, strong iron hook, like a large fish-hook without a barb, inserted into or otherwise attached to a wooden handle of convenient length, used especially for landing large fish, as salmon, pike, bass, or the like, after they have been hooked on the line. Also called gaffhook.

n. Nautical, a spar used to extend the upper edge of fore-and-aft sails which are not set on stays, as the mainsail of a sloop or the spanker of a ship.

n. The metal spur bound to the shanks of fighting-cocks; a gaffle.—

n. In Great, Britain, a theater of the lowest class, the admission to which is generally a penny; a cheap and loosely conducted place of amusement, where singing and dancing take place.

Words with the same terminal sound

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Comments

For gaff meaning loud talk or harsh treatment: Perhaps from Old English gafsprǣc (“buffoonery, scurrility; blasphemous or ribald speech”), from Old English gaf (“base, vile, lewd”) + Old English sprǣc (“language, speech, talk”)

From Edgar Rice Burrows, Beyond Thirty (aka The Lost Continent):"Numbers one, two, and five engines have broken down, sir," he called. "Shall we force the remaining three?""We can do nothing else," I bellowed into the transmitter."They won't stand the gaff, sir," he returned."Can you suggest a better plan?" I asked. "No, sir," he replied. "Then give them the gaff, lieutenant," I shouted back, and hung up the receiver.

A sort of all-purpose tool carried by Newfoundland sealers, consisting of a light pole with a hook attached to one end. Used to club seals, but also to tow piles of pelts back to the ship, and to pull a man out if he fell through the ice.